This blog is a campaign against Turkish accession to the European Union. Through original articles, and links to relevant sources of information, it aims to demonstrate why Turkish EU membership would be a disaster for Europe and for Western civilisation.

Thursday, 23 June 2011

Turkey Veers West?

Various commentators are expressing the view that, with the election behind it, Turkey is now seeking a rapprochement with "the West" or with Israel. The IHH pulling out of the Gaza flotilla with the notorious Mavi Marmara ship could be interpreted as a sign of this, for example, although the Turkish government has always (not very credibly) claimed it has no influence over the IHH. Now there are reports that Israel and Turkey are conducting secrets talks with a view to re-establishing an amicable relationship:

Israel and Turkey have been holding secret talks at several levels to end their diplomatic crisis, Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday, quoting a senior Israeli official.

The report, for which there was no confirmation, said an official representing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Feridun Sinirlioglu, undersecretary at the Turkish foreign ministry, were involved in the discussions.

Talks were also being held between the Israeli and Turkish representatives on a UN panel investigating Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in May 2010 that left nine Turkish nationals dead, the paper said.

The two representatives -- Israel's Yosef Ciechanover and Turkey's Ozdem Sanberk -- have been working together on the flotilla inquiry for the past several months.

But they have also been onpassing messages to their respective governments and even drafted understandings to end the crisis, according to the Haaretz.

"Israel is interested in the restoration of healthy and positive bilateral relations, which are in the interest of both parties," a senior Israeli official told AFP, although he declined to comment on the report.

Even if this is all true, what does it say about the moral character of the Turkish government that it is willing to engage in rabble-rousing anti-western and anti-Israeli rhetoric to help it win an election? And what does it say about the Turkish people that they respond to such rhetoric? At a minimum, the only reasonable conclusion to draw from this cynical episode is that Turks are not fit to be members of the European Union.

So you all keep saying. In that case, why don't you withdraw your application to join the EU? Then I can shut down this blog. As it is, you just look like an aggressive beggar who doesn't even have the grace to admit that he's a beggar.